May is Mental Health Month
Yet another month where a social issue is brought awareness but goes unheard due to the chatter the COVD-19 has brought to the media. Well I aim to bring awareness through my platform and for the month of May we celebrate Mental Health. I decide that I wanted to get candid with this blog post because I am directly affected by the topic at hand.
Take some time to take a walk down the my journey with mental health.
My Mental Health Testimonial
Here is my personal testimonial on what helped me realize that mental health is not only real but VERY important as well.
Growing up I experienced big accomplishments, bigger disappointments, new bonds and some lost, bullying, the love of family, self-hate, trauma and a range of many other things that I never took the time to really look at. I continued to race forward because looking back was believed to be the wrong way get ahead, it’s almost frowned upon. I kept tunnel vision to a future that wasn’t essentially clear, composed of dreams the world fed into my mind. The years went by and I continued to pile more shit over the source of the problem, not knowing that I was making it twice as hard to unravel later.
Avoidance.
We all want to manifest a happy life and we often think this means aiming for the things society has scaled to equal happiness like money, an attractive partner, a nice place to live and an incredible career. I would make it my goal to complete this checklist, but the more things I checked off the more empty I felt. Not satisfied with my reality, I kept searching for answers because unintentionally I wanted to fill my voids at all costs! This is when mental health came knocking at my front door and when I glanced through the peephole, I refused to answer. Mental health didn’t knock again, the second time it kicked my front door down. I was overflowed with everything that had piled up: the decisions, the heart aches, the traumas all came to the forefront and suddenly breathing became difficult.
Panic Attack.
During my early 20’s I became constantly bombarded with the hard truths and it was honestly excruciating to live through. Imagine your mind replaying your bad decisions at any opportunity and drilling that you should do better! I tried to find ways to escape through unhealthy distractions but it only served as a bandaid. As time went on I began to physically feel pain, it’s almost like my mind was inflicting physical pain on to my body, I literally felt sick. I decided to go to the hospital because I needed to know why I was feeling so strange. There I was diagnosed with anxiety and depression. Hearing it for the first time crushed me because at the time I had a belief that mental health issues meant weakness.
Taboo.
This is when spirituality is reborn and solidified in my life. Something beyond me knew that accepting that I needed to go within and do the work was VITAL to my life. So I surrendered. I gave up trying to hold on to who I thought I was, I let go of the need for control, I stopped caring about how other might view me and started caring more about rediscovering myself. So I began a mental health regime: therapy combined with prayer. Let me be frank, therapy isn’t a easy process. It can take time for you to first align with a therapist you like and then the even lengthier process begins of dismantling your issues through very tough conversations. However, I promise it is entirely worth it.
Since I had also opened my life up to god as well, I was able to reconnect to that intuition we all have (which I believe is really just our higher selves) and I started to hear the nudges and see the synchronies. My ego had been driving my vessel for far too long and I kindly moved it to the back seat so that my soul can lead. I began shedding the things I held tightly for the wrong reasons like my the hyper focus on my appearance, having a bunch of [fake] friends, wanting to make [failed] romantic connections work and everything else the person in me indulged in to fill her voids. That decision changed my life, I redirected my focus to the things that truly matter to me and that honor my life purpose. Through this growth I began birthing this platform Vitamins for Breakfast. My website became a physical representation of who I truly am and what [Vitamins] feed my soul. If you ever wonder what your purpose is try to remember who you were as a kid before the world told you who you should be. I personally grew up loving community, making people laugh, bringing the best out of others and creating content through means of entertainment. In recent years I explored those avenues that I once loved liked acting and performance which as helped me climb over the tallest barriers I built within my mind.
See, we have mental health all wrong. Mental Health issues doesn’t mean your life is over, on the contrary, it means a better version of your life is on it’s way.
Evolution.
Perspective:
“Mental health issues is just a sign of a weak person”
I want to give perspective to my readers in reference to the commonly used myth mentioned above. We didn’t develop our traumas alone so why do you believe we must face them alone? Speak to a professional if you need help in combat because it doesn’t mean you’re a weak person, it means you’re a wise fighter.
Don’t get stuck in the belief system of tunnel vision and just “forget the past.” In order to fix your current state of mind it’s important to trace back. To be clear, tracing back doesn’t mean reflecting everyday on your past decisions, but rather looking back at the source of a bad habit or learned perspective(s) to identify, understand, accept and rewrite the narrative.
So to those who believe the myths regarding mental health I say this. . .
When we choose not to to address our internal issues, similar to a cancer untreated it will just spread until there is no return.
Accepting my mental health issues helped me become a better person for myself and subsequently towards others. I’ve been able to swim with the currents of my life rather than always trying to swim against it. In the mist of it all, I gained a lot more than I lost when dismantling my problems such as, clarity, connection to source, purpose and intention. I wouldn’t trade that for anything money can buy.
Happy Mental Health Awareness Month!
Love.
Here are some facts on Mental Health:
